Tony Blair is facing further questions about intelligence failings in his case for the Iraq war as he leads an MPs debate on the Butler inquiry.
The debate comes after a former defence intelligence official said basic errors made in the government dossier on Iraqi weapons were "staggering".

Lord Butler said much of the pre-war intelligence on Iraq was unreliable.

The prime minister, who still defends the war, will clash with Tory leader Michael Howard in Tuesday's debate.

Click to expand...

Bah! After the savaging "M'learned friend" took in PMQ last Thusday, and the fact that Bluppet had a week to get his story straight , I don't expect any great things here

He's been getting a kicking all afternoon from all sides and it was great to watch his face as Howard and Kennedy talked about his credibility and the shame he should feel. Don't know if there will be a division so don't know what real impact this will have other than to increase the number of people who would not trust this t*sser as far as they could throw him.

He's been getting a kicking all afternoon from all sides and it was great to watch his face as Howard and Kennedy talked about his credibility and the shame he should feel. Don't know if there will be a division so don't know what real impact this will have other than to increase the number of people who would not trust this t*sser as far as they could throw him.

Click to expand...

How the hell do you increase that number ?

Lunatics, murderers and peers (especially the new buggers) are not permitted to vote so don't count. Besides they're all part of the 'in-crowd' anyway.

He gets away with it, because people don't care about all the Iraqis (not to mention the British servicemen) who died because he wanted to suck up to Georgie Boy. The public don't even care enough to point out how little they cared, so Blair gets away with 'regime change', even though that wasn't a legal excuse for war. This will cost him seats next election, but probably not the election itself.

For my money, this is the time to get involved with local politics, and drag the Lib Dems up by the scruff of the neck. We'll see if I put my money where my mouth is. Direct Democracy is hard work...

For my money, this is the time to get involved with local politics, and drag the Lib Dems up by the scruff of the neck. We'll see if I put my money where my mouth is. Direct Democracy is hard work...

Click to expand...

Amen Stardark it is, but damn doesn't it taste good when you win, or at least come very damn close?

I made this point , admittedley repeatedly last Thursday to anyone within earshot.

We MUST increase membership, we MUST listen to the Electorate, and act on their most pressing wishes immediately.

The electorate do not want to be told "What is best for them" They know politicians eat, sleep , crap just the same as them, and have not been to special "How to run a country" University. You don't listen to your other half or parents telling you what is the best for you, so why the hell should they listen to some prat?

So how about, just for a change, we address the concerns of THE PEOPLE.

If I could have a team, in every constituency, like the team in Hodge Hill or Leicester South, Charlie Krankie would be sitting in 10 Downing Street in the next one.

The party needs to grow a big fcuk off set of teeth. The Party needs to start believing it can win. Stop listening to crap from pundits like "Oh the LibDems are good at winning the protest vote, or by elections"

Bollox , we won, full stop. Now we need to hold on to those wins.

When the Bluppet destroyed Howard at the Box at PMQ on election day, he just about handed CK an engraved invitation to be taken seriously as THE opposition , with comments like "I have more respect for this Honourable Gentleman , than the leader of the opposition, because HE HAS ALWAYS STUCK TO HIS POINT OF VIEW.

The British People hear that too.

It's time to get our bloody woolly thinking sorted out.

I voted LibDem, because I believed they represented something I wanted to believe about the British. Decent, Honest, Fair play etc. I believe, that is why a lot of people DO vote for the party.

So we need a Leader that reflects that. Either CK goes and gets some aggression training from somewhere , or we find someone like Paddy, or another Ulsterman I can think of.

We can win , if we can just get on message, and deliver that message aggressively, and at every opportunity.

OK, the British Press have a downer on LibDems, as evidenced by their frankly poxy coverage. Go on Journo lurkers, I dare you to defy it.

Ok, we'll start hitting the Foreign Press, whose Darlings we are right now.

We need to shove a b'astard rocket up the collective arrses of the PR team at Cowley Street , and make sure every piece of news, no matter how trivial, ends up on an editorial desk somewhere on the planet, even if it's Zanzibar Fishermans Times.

Above all, we need members and workers , and we need to be seen to be doing, if it ain't right, or people are concerned, then fcuk it, we need not only to address that concern, but sort it out. We need to get stuck into the people who won't vote, the disenfranchised, and the disillusioned.

We can win, we can win by a large margin, but we need to believe we can.

Actually, I'm not so concerned with 'going home and preparing for government', as it were, as I am with the Lib Dems being credible enough for Labour to need to force Blair out. I have changed my stance slightly, to not voting for a party which has Blair or Straw in the Cabinet (Hoon would be irrelevant if those two went), but would be happy to keep Labour in power, with the Democrats in Opposition, or vice versa.

I just wouldn't touch Labour with a bargepole at the moment, hence Kennedy and co get my support for the general election.